ISIS and the Quran: Following Muhammad's Example
When ISIS burst onto the world stage in 2014, Western leaders rushed to declare that the terrorist group had "nothing to do with Islam." President Obama called them "not Islamic." British Prime Minister David Cameron said they were "monsters, not Muslims." Yet ISIS fighters carried Qurans, quoted Islamic texts, and claimed to be following Muhammad's example. The uncomfortable truth is that ISIS represents not a distortion of Islam but a literalist application of its foundational texts and earliest history.
What ISIS Did
Before examining ISIS's Islamic justification, we must acknowledge their atrocities:
- Mass executions of prisoners and civilians
- Beheadings, often filmed and distributed online
- Crucifixions of enemies
- Burning prisoners alive
- Throwing homosexuals off buildings
- Systematic rape and sexual slavery of Yazidi women and girls
- Forced conversions or death for religious minorities
- Destruction of ancient archaeological sites and churches
- Use of child soldiers
- Public floggings, stonings, and amputations
- Establishing a "caliphate" with strict Sharia law
These actions shocked modern conscience. Yet ISIS claimed Quranic justification for every single practice. And disturbingly, they were often correct.
The Quranic Foundation for ISIS
ISIS's violence wasn't invented—it was imitated from the Quran and Muhammad's biography:
1. Beheadings:
"When you meet those who disbelieve, strike their necks until, when you have inflicted slaughter upon them, then secure their bonds."
Quran 47:4
"I will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieved, so strike [them] upon the necks and strike from them every fingertip."
Quran 8:12
ISIS didn't invent beheading—they followed explicit Quranic commands to "strike necks." The gruesome videos they produced mirror the violence described in Islam's holiest book.
2. Crucifixion:
"Indeed, the penalty for those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger and strive upon earth [to cause] corruption is none but that they be killed or crucified or that their hands and feet be cut off from opposite sides or that they be exiled from the land."
Quran 5:33
When ISIS crucified enemies and left their bodies on display, they cited this verse. They weren't innovating—they were following Quranic prescription.
3. Amputation:
"As for the thief, the male and the female, amputate their hands in recompense for what they committed as a deterrent [punishment] from Allah."
Quran 5:38
ISIS regularly amputated hands for theft, exactly as the Quran commands.
4. Treatment of Captives and Slavery:
"So when you meet those who disbelieve [in battle], strike [their] necks until, when you have inflicted slaughter upon them, then secure their bonds, and either [confer] favor afterwards or ransom [them] until the war lays down its burdens."
Quran 47:4
"O Prophet, indeed We have made lawful to you your wives to whom you have given their due compensation and those your right hand possesses from what Allah has returned to you [of captives]."
Quran 33:50
The phrase "those your right hand possesses" is a Quranic euphemism for slaves, particularly female captives. ISIS cited this verse to justify enslaving Yazidi women.
5. Fighting Until Islam Dominates:
"And fight them until there is no fitnah [disbelief] and [until] the religion, all of it, is for Allah."
Quran 8:39
"Fight those who do not believe in Allah or in the Last Day and who do not consider unlawful what Allah and His Messenger have made unlawful and who do not adopt the religion of truth from those who were given the Scripture - [fight] until they give the jizyah willingly while they are humbled."
Quran 9:29
ISIS's goal of establishing a caliphate where Islam ruled supreme was based on these verses commanding Muslims to fight until Islam dominates.
Following Muhammad's Example
ISIS didn't just follow the Quran—they imitated Muhammad's biography as recorded in Islamic sources:
1. The Massacre of Banu Qurayza:
"Then the Apostle went out to the market of Medina and dug trenches in it. Then he sent for them and struck off their heads in those trenches as they were brought out to him in batches... This went on until the Apostle made an end of them. There were 600 or 700 in all, though some put the figure as high as 800 or 900."
Ibn Ishaq's Sirat Rasul Allah
Muhammad ordered the beheading of hundreds of Jewish men from the Banu Qurayza tribe after they surrendered. The men were killed, and the women and children were enslaved. When ISIS massacred captives and enslaved women, they pointed to this event as precedent.
2. The Taking of Sex Slaves:
"We went out with Allah's Messenger on the expedition to the Bi'l-Mustaliq and took captive some excellent Arab women; and we desired them, for we were suffering from the absence of our wives, (but at the same time) we also desired ransom for them. So we decided to have sexual intercourse with them but by observing 'azl (coitus interruptus). But we said: We are doing an act whereas Allah's Messenger is amongst us; why not ask him? So we asked Allah's Messenger, and he said: 'It does not matter if you do not do it, for every soul that is to be born up to the Day of Resurrection will be born.'"
Sahih Muslim 8:3371
Muhammad's companions took female captives as sex slaves, and Muhammad permitted this practice. ISIS cited this and similar hadiths to justify their systematic sexual enslavement of Yazidi and other minority women.
3. Destroying Religious Sites:
"Allah's Apostle sent us in a mission and said, 'If you find so-and-so and so-and-so, burn both of them with fire.' When we intended to depart, Allah's Apostle said, 'I have ordered you to burn so-and-so and so-and-so, and it is none but Allah Who punishes with fire, so, if you find them, kill them.'"
Sahih Bukhari 4:52:259
Muhammad destroyed pagan idols and ordered the destruction of religious sites of other faiths. When ISIS destroyed ancient temples, Christian churches, and Yazidi shrines, they saw themselves following Muhammad's example of destroying "false worship."
4. Executing Apostates:
"Allah's Apostle said, 'The blood of a Muslim who confesses that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah and that I am His Apostle, cannot be shed except in three cases: In Qisas for murder, a married person who commits illegal sexual intercourse and the one who reverts from Islam (apostate) and leaves the Muslims.'"
Sahih Bukhari 9:83:17
When ISIS executed Muslims who refused to join them or who left Islam, they cited this hadith as justification.
5. Killing Homosexuals:
"The Messenger of Allah said: 'Whoever you find doing the action of the people of Lut, kill the one who does it, and the one to whom it is done.'"
Sunan Ibn Majah 3:20:2561
ISIS's practice of throwing homosexuals from buildings claimed to follow Muhammad's command to kill those practicing homosexual acts.
ISIS's Own Justifications
ISIS wasn't shy about their Islamic basis. Their official magazine, Dabiq, regularly cited Quran and hadith. Consider these excerpts:
"Enslaving the families of the kuffar [disbelievers] and taking their women as concubines is a firmly established aspect of the Shariah that if one were to deny or mock, he would be denying or mocking the verses of the Quran and the narrations of the Prophet... and thereby apostatizing from Islam."
They argued that refusing to enslave captive women would be apostasy from Islam because it's clearly permitted in Islamic texts.
"Allah commanded His Prophet to kill or crucify or cut the hands and feet of those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger."
ISIS's brutality wasn't random sadism—it was methodical application of Quranic commands.
The "Moderate Muslim" Response
Many Muslims condemned ISIS, calling them extremists who distorted Islam. But this response raises difficult questions:
Who Decides True Islam? ISIS claimed to follow the Quran and Muhammad literally. Moderate Muslims claim ISIS distorted Islam. But who has the authority to declare which interpretation is correct? ISIS could cite chapter and verse for their practices. Can moderate Muslims do the same for their rejection of those practices?
The Abrogation Problem: Many moderate Muslims cite peaceful Meccan verses to show Islam's tolerance. But Islamic theology teaches that later Medinan verses abrogate earlier ones. The violent verses ISIS followed are primarily from the Medinan period, when Muhammad had political and military power.
Historical Precedent: ISIS's caliphate resembled the early Islamic caliphates more than it resembled modern nation-states. The early Muslims conquered vast territories, imposed Islamic law, enslaved captives, and executed apostates. If the earliest Muslims—including Muhammad's companions—practiced these things, on what basis are they "un-Islamic" today?
Selective Reading: Moderate Muslims must selectively ignore or reinterpret large portions of the Quran and hadith to maintain their peaceful Islam. ISIS accepted these texts at face value. Which approach is more intellectually honest?
The Uncomfortable Pattern
ISIS isn't an anomaly. Throughout Islamic history and in the modern world, groups that take Islamic texts seriously tend toward violence:
- Al-Qaeda cited the same verses as ISIS
- The Taliban implemented harsh Sharia remarkably similar to ISIS
- Boko Haram in Nigeria mirrors ISIS's tactics and theology
- The early Islamic conquests used similar methods
- Saudi Arabia's legal system includes many practices ISIS adopted (beheadings, amputations, flogging)
When different groups in different times and places all arrive at similar violent interpretations of Islam, perhaps the problem isn't the interpreters but the texts themselves.
Biblical Contrast
Some critics point to violence in the Old Testament to claim Christianity is equivalent to Islam. But there are crucial differences:
Specific vs. Universal Commands: Old Testament conquest narratives were specific commands to Israel for particular circumstances. They are not presented as universal mandates for all believers in all times. The Quran's violent verses are presented as ongoing commands until Islam dominates.
The Example of Jesus: Muhammad personally led armies, ordered executions, took slaves, and commanded violence. Jesus never killed anyone, never led an army, never took slaves, and taught His followers to love enemies.
"You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven."
Matthew 5:43-45
When ISIS claimed to follow Muhammad's example, they could accurately cite his violent actions. Christians trying to follow Jesus' example find commands to love, serve, and sacrifice—not conquer, enslave, and kill.
The Direction of Development: As Islam developed, it became more violent (from Meccan peace to Medinan warfare). As Christianity developed, it became more focused on spiritual rather than political power. The New Testament represents the fulfillment and ultimate direction of God's plan—and that direction is sacrificial love, not holy war.
Redemptive Trajectory: The Bible's narrative arc moves from particular national covenant (Israel) to universal spiritual covenant (the Church). It moves from physical kingdom to spiritual kingdom. It moves from external law to internal transformation. The trajectory is away from violence toward peace through the Prince of Peace.
Islam's trajectory moves the opposite direction: from the peaceful minority period in Mecca to the violent majority period in Medina. The later Medinan verses, which Muslims believe supersede earlier ones, are more violent. ISIS followed that trajectory.
Questions to Consider
- If ISIS distorted Islam, why could they cite chapter and verse from Quran and hadith for their practices?
- Who has the authority to declare what "true Islam" is—ISIS who followed texts literally, or moderates who reinterpret them?
- Why do groups that take Islamic texts seriously so often arrive at violent conclusions?
- If Muhammad practiced many of the same actions as ISIS, how can those actions be "un-Islamic"?
- Can a religion whose founder was a military commander who took slaves and ordered executions truly claim to be a religion of peace?
- Which example would you rather follow—Jesus who laid down His life for enemies, or Muhammad who took the lives of enemies?
- If the Quran's violent verses are taken out of context, what is the proper context that makes them peaceful?
- Are you willing to honestly examine whether ISIS represented a distortion of Islam or a disturbing fulfillment of it?